Magic
Magic is the ability to manipulate the magical elements, both common and rare. There are four types of magic: elemental, energetic, fringe, and dark. Each of these has several subtypes. Every person who possesses the ability to use magic has one, or a combination of several, types that are available to their use, dictated both by genetics and the luck of the draw. For example, a person whose mother possesses fire magic is likely to also have fire magic, but there is also the possibility that this person might randomly get another type instead, such as water. However, the genetic component is most often the strongest one. No matter what type of magic a magic user possesses, all of them, if they are practiced enough, have the power to create glamour—that is, a shield of magic that can be shaped to resemble an object or person. Each subtype of magic is associated with another. Air is associated with Motion, Fire is associated with Mind, Water is associated with Heart, and Mind and Heart are also associated. What this means is that a person who has Air magic is likely to also possess Motion magic, and so on. Elemental magic This is a common type of magic, which has four subtypes based on the classical elements. * Air users can harness the power of wind. They can use this to move objects or manipulate enemies. Some can even use this type of magic to manipulate weather patterns. The most powerful of them could create a hurricane. Complementary to Motion magic. * Fire users can harness the power of flames. They can set themselves aflame (without injury), use the flames as a shield, or use it to attack enemies. Their fire has the same properties of regular fire, only they can generate as much of it as they wish. Complementary to Mind magic. * Water users can harness the power of ‘water.' But the ‘water’ they create is unlike regular water, except in appearance. It is more like a cold, blue version of fire magic than it is like actual water. Water magic is less powerful than fire because it cannot burn or scorch objects or people, but it can be used as a force against objects, and if it surrounds a person, it can drown them. Complementary to Heart magic. * Pure is an approximate translation of the Humezean word ‘veqen’. It is the most powerful magic and the second-rarest. Pure users can harness pure magic energy, which means they can potentially master all types of magic. Lazeda of ancient legends was most likely a pure-type. Complementary to Unseen magic. Energetic magic "Energetic" magicians are one of four types: motion, mind, heart, or unseen. * Motion users have the power to invisibly move any object just by thinking of it, similar to the concept of telekinesis. The most powerful of them can destroy mountains or shift the smallest molecule of their choice. Complementary to Air magic. * Mind users can see into a person’s mind, read their thoughts—though they cannot sense the emotions behind them. It is very common for a person to be both a Mind and Heart user at the same time, so they are considered ‘sister’ subtypes to one another. The most powerful Mind user can manipulate, plant and even control thoughts in another person’s head. Complementary to Fire magic. * Heart is the least powerful magic type. Heart users can sense general emotions in another person, though they cannot sense the thoughts behind them. The most powerful Heart users can manipulate emotions. As mentioned above, Heart users are very often also Mind users, so the subtypes are considered sisters to one another. Complementary to Water magic. * Unseen is summarized as a very rare combination of Motion, Mind, and Heart magic, which can be described together as the ability to manipulate things (emotions, minds, and the world at large) invisibly. It is debatable whether this is a type of magic at all. Pure magicians and Unseen magicians are sometimes confused with each other. It is not uncommon for someone who believes himself a master of Unseen magic to discover he is actually a user of Pure magic. Fringe magic These are the types of magic most commonly described as "supernatural." * Seeing magicians are the so-called ‘prophets’. They have the ability to sense future events to varying degrees; the most powerful of them can see decades, even hundreds of years, into the future, and can predict events to the exact date and time. * Feeling magicians have empathy with creatures which otherwise cannot be communicated with to such a degree—such as various animals; different types of spirits; and others. A possessor of feeling magic would probably have a specific focus to their magic, such as a special empathy with the spirit world or with birds. * Perceiving magicians have the ability to sense the present. For example, they can ‘see’ around corners without really looking. The most powerful of these can ‘see’ across the world with perfect precision. * Sensing magic, like Unseen magic, is debatable whether it is really a type of magic at all, as it is simply a combination of all 3 types of Fringe magic. Together, they are described as the ability to sense the world, and the people and creatures in it, in general. Dark magic These are the types of magic considered controversial, and some of them have historically been forbidden. * Illusion users can trick other people - the number at a time depends on their power level - into believing they are seeing something which is not there. This effect is less strong on other Illusion magicians. In historical times, Illusion users were used for espionage, assassination, and other covert missions as decreed by the ruler of Hume; they were considered some of the most valuable spies. However, they were also distrusted by the public. The most powerful of them could make a crowd of thousands each descend into their own personal hell. * Body users can manipulate bodies: stopping bloodflow to the brain, causing the liver to fail, breaking the bones, stealing air from the lungs, or halting the heartbeat. In this way, they can torture someone with a slow death or assassinate them with a fast one. They can, however, also heal someone if they wish. In the old days, they were the king's assassins, but when one of them turned on a king of Hume, their existence was banned by the new king for 10 years, during which every Body magic-using child was killed. This ban was reversed after public outcry, but distrust and terror still remain toward Body users. The most powerful of them could make a crowd drop dead with a blink. * Harm users are somewhat like Body magicians, in that they affect the body. However, they cannot heal, manipulate organs, or cause any real physical damage, despite their name. They can only make a person feel the sensation of pain, the degree of which depends on the magician's whim. Their only use in Humezean society is as torturers. The most powerful of them could make a person feel an agony so intense, he would die instantly of the shock. * Dark Fire users are, despite their name, not much like Fire magicians. They create a magic energy that is similar to Fire magic in appearance, only with a black color pinpricked with other colors. Some have compared the appearance of Dark Fire to a night sky. Their Fire magic is typically more powerful than a Fire magician's. When it surrounds a person, it burns them to a crisp, but as long as it is still touching their body, it will keep their spirit alive in a state of torture - even if they are reduced to ash. Dark Fire can also be used to level buildings and burn cities. The most powerful of them is the legendary Sayazeg, who lived thousands of years ago, and who was said to have burnt the whole continent to ash.